FAD Stories: #FashionFutures2018 – Gokcen

Gokcen is currently in the process of making a menswear jacket with a retro, vintage look and during her time with FAD, has learnt all manner of skills, including how to cut, how to do applique and how to use a technical sewing machine.

‘The people working with us can do it so easily,’ Gokcen says, talking about the volunteers she’s been working with. ‘They show us how to do it, how to improve and how to fix the work we’re doing.’

With an interest in potentially working within fashion and textiles in the future, she mentions how FAD has helped her in seeing how many options were available out there. ‘I thought textiles was just making fabrics and sending them out, but I’ve learnt there are so many other jobs in between textiles and fashion,’ she explains. ‘That’s made me more interested in doing fashion. I met someone who knows every single fabric by touching them. That’s her job, and that’s so interesting.’

For Gokcen, the learning curve hasn’t just been technically either. ‘I’d never wake up at 7:30 in the morning to get somewhere on a Saturday, so that’s new for me too! I don’t even have to put an alarm on anymore. I look forward to it and it just happens,’ she says, laughing.